Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dannel Malloy said Wednesday he would focus his public service experience to help Connecticut's working-class and middle-class families.

Asked whether he anticipates being outspent by Republican nominee Tom Foley, who has already written about $3 million in campaign checks, Malloy quipped, "I hope he doesn't mortgage the yacht."

If class warfare's not your game, how about whack a career politician?

Foley said it's politicians like Malloy who have put the state in the mess it faces and that his experience as a business executive would foster the job growth needed to recover from the recession.

"He's a career politician," Foley said of Malloy. "I don't think he's the one who's going to go up to Hartford and shake things up. I think the same forces and special interests that have resulted in the logjam we have in Hartford -- and the policies that make sense for the state not being implemented -- we'll end up with the same situation with him in office."

The day after primary victories propelled them into the general election campaign for Connecticut's governor, Foley and Malloy wasted no time in trying to define the race in terms favorable to their candidacies.

Malloy, the former 14-year mayor of Stamford, said he and Foley, a millionaire private investor from Greenwich, have different supporters.

"He'll be talking to his constituency, I'll be talking with mine. I hope he speaks in Republican rhetoric to the state of Connecticut," Malloy said.

"This is about values and experience," he said. "I've been talking about that for the last 12 weeks and for the year before that. And I think it's about who they trust, and that's our message."

Speaking to reporters in his campaign war room in Hartford Wednesday, Malloy said that focusing on Foley's personal wealth and his proposals to change the pension plans for 50,000 state employees could loom large in the fall campaign.

"Every time I hear somebody who's worth hundreds of millions of dollars talk about a person making $50,000 and their pension, is a good day for me," Malloy said.

Foley on Wednesday said the fall election campaign will highlight his executive experience and business skills, while labeling Malloy as part of the cause of Connecticut's financial problems.

Foley said the state needs to change its attitude toward business.

"We need to make it more accommodating to employers, make it less expensive to employ people here in Connecticut so we can get job growth back and get the economy going," he said.

Foley said his experience as a CEO is just what the state needs right now.

"When you have run large companies you pick up leadership skills, you understand how to diagnose problems, come up with plans for solving problems, implement those plans," Foley said. "These are things that Connecticut needs right now."